GPs go online to end '8am rush’

Patients are to be allowed to book GP appointments online as part of an
attempt by ministers to make the NHS more "customer friendly".

Under a new NHS Information Strategy to be launched tomorrow by Andrew Lansley, the Heath Secretary, doctors surgeries will also be obliged to let patients receive test results and access their medical records via their computer, smart phone or iPadPhoto: REX

Patients wanting to see their GP have had to trudge to their surgery as soon as it opens and queue up at reception to fix an appointment later that day. They then have to stagger home and return later when it is time to see their doctor.

Now ministers are to order all GPs to let patients book appointments online, in a bid to make the health service more "customer friendly".

Under a new NHS Information Strategy to be launched tomorrow by Andrew Lansley, the Heath Secretary, doctors surgeries will also be obliged to let patients receive test results and access their medical records via their computer, smart phone or iPad.

Patients will also be encouraged to e-mail surgeries direct, ending the hassle of battling with switchboards. Repeat prescriptions will also be approved online, saving a visit to the doctor.

Some surgeries already allow patients to book appointments online, but those who do not offer such services by 2015 will be "named and shamed" on a Government website.

Mr Lansley said: "Our health reforms are about making life easier for patients. By allowing people to access the NHS online we will put an end to the 8am rush to phone your GP to try and book an appointment.

"Reforms like this will take the hassle out of the health service. Giving people the option to order their repeat prescriptions online as well as their test results removes unnecessary stress and bureaucracy." Rather than one NHS portal, groups of GPs surgeries will host a websites.

Patients will have their own account on these websites, with a password-protected log-in to ensure their records and requests remain private.

An official at the Department for Health acknowledged that many people do not have access to a computer. Patients will still be able to book appointments when they visit their surgery, she said.

The NHS has had a poor track record with computers. Last year the NHS's £12.4bn National Programme for IT is being axed after years of delays, technical problems and ballooning costs.

The Department for Health believes that half of GP surgeries already have the technical capability to allow patients to book their appointments online.

A survey of NHS patients taken two years ago found that 51% of patients found it difficult to get through to their GP's surgery on the phone.

Julia Manning, chief executive of 2020 Health, leading health and society think tank, said: "Patients will welcome many of these changes. Many GP surgeries are stuck in the dark ages.

"It is about time patients had more control over access to healthcare.

However, GPs records are not straight forward. There is a risk that patients may be confused, so we need much better information available for the public to understand medical notes.

"It is going to take a lot for all of this to happen by 2015. I hope the Government will give surgeries all the support necessary to make this to happen."